Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

Melville Shavelson

Writers:

Ted Berkman (book)
Melville Shavelson (written by)

Release Date:

30 March 1966 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

Outnumbered - unarmed - unprepared - they stunned the world with their incredible victory!

Plot:

An American Army officer is recruited by the yet to exist Israel to help them form an army. He is disturbed by this sudden appeal to his jewish roots...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Historical | Based On Book

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Col. David 'Mickey' Marcus
Senta Berger	...	Magda Simon
Angie Dickinson	...	Emma Marcus
James Donald	...	Maj. Safir
Stathis Giallelis	...	Ram Oren
Luther Adler	...	Jacob Zion
Topol	...	Abou Ibn Kader
Ruth White	...	Mrs. Chaison
Gordon Jackson	...	James MacAfee
Michael Hordern	...	British ambassador
Allan Cuthbertson	...	Immigration officer
Jeremy Kemp	...	British Immigration senior
Sean Barrett	...	British Immigration junior
Michael Shillo	...	Andre Simon
Rina Ganor	...	Rona
Roland Bartrop	...	Bert Harrison
Robert Gardett	...	Gen. Walsh
Michael Balston	...	Sentry #1
Claude Aliotti	...	Sentry #2
Samra Dedes	...	Belly dancer
Micha Shagrir	...	Truck driver (as Michael Shagrir)
Frank Latimore	...	UN officer
Ken Buckle	...	UN officer
Rod Dana	...	Aide to Gen. Randolph (as Rodd Dana)
Robert Ross	...	Aide to Chief of Staff
Arthur Hansel	...	Officer
Dan Sturkie	...	Parachute sergeant (as Don Sturkie)
Hillel Rave	...	Yaakov
Shlomo Hermon	...	Yussuf
Frank Sinatra	...	Vince Talmadge
Yul Brynner	...	Asher Gonen
John Wayne	...	Gen. Mike Randolph
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Vera Dolen	...	Mrs. Martinson (scenes deleted)
Gary Merrill	...	Pentagon Chief of Staff (scenes deleted)
Winston Churchill	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Michael Douglas	...	Jeep driver (uncredited)
Rudolf Hess	...	Himself at Nuremberg (archive footage) (uncredited)
Fiorello LaGuardia	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Danny Perlman	...	Jeep driver (uncredited)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jimmy Shaw	...	Jeep Driver (uncredited)
Joseph Stalin	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Melville Shavelson

Writing credits
Ted Berkman		(book)
Melville Shavelson		(written by)

Produced by
Melville Shavelson	....	producer
Michael Wayne	....	co-producer

Original Music by
Elmer Bernstein

Cinematography by
Aldo Tonti

Film Editing by
Bert Bates
Gene Ruggiero

Casting by
Lynn Stalmaster
Irene Howard		(uncredited)

Production Design by
Michael Stringer

Art Direction by
Arrigo Equini

Set Decoration by
Ferdinando Ruffo

Costume Design by
Margaret Furse

Makeup Department
Dave Grayson	....	makeup artist (as David Grayson)
Vasco Reggiani	....	hair stylist (as Vasco Regianni)
Euclide Santoli	....	makeup artist
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Nate H. Edwards	....	production manager (as Nate Edwards)
Shlomo Mugrabi	....	unit production manager: Israel (as Shlomo Mograbi)
Patrick J. Palmer	....	unit manager
Allen K. Wood	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Jack N. Reddish	....	assistant director (as Jack Reddish)
Jack N. Reddish	....	second unit director (as Jack Reddish)
Charles R. Scott Jr.	....	assistant director (as Charles Scott Jr.)
Tim Zinnemann	....	assistant director

Art Department
Joe LaBella	....	property master (as Joseph La Bella)
Danny Perlman	....	assistant property master (uncredited)

Sound Department
David Bowen	....	sound
Chuck Overhulser	....	sound editor
Clem Portman	....	sound re-recordist
Marvin Walowitz	....	dialogue editor (uncredited)
James D. Young	....	assistant sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Sass Bedig	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Joseph Nathanson	....	matte artist (as Joseph Natanson)

Stunts
Ken Buckle	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jack Cooper	....	stunts (uncredited)
Joe Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Marko Ya'acobi	....	camera operator: second unit (as Marco Yakovlevich)
Bob Penn	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Annalisa Nasalli-Rocca	....	wardrobe supervisor

Music Department
Richard Carruth	....	music editor
Jack Hayes	....	orchestrator
Dov Seltzer	....	composer: song "Next Year in Jerusalem"
Leo Shuken	....	orchestrator

Other crew
Avraham Leibman	....	mechanic
Guy Luongo	....	production coordinator: Italy
Marion Mertes	....	script supervisor
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer (uncredited)
Ralph M. Leo	....	production accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Batjac Productions
• Bryna Productions
• Llenroc Productions
• Mirisch Corporation, The

Distributors

• United Artists (1966) (USA) (theatrical)
• National Broadcasting Company (NBC) (1970) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1998) (USA) (VHS)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• United Artists (1966) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1967) (France) (theatrical) (as Les Artistes Associés )
• Warner Home Video (????) (West Germany) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Air France  special equipment

Runtime:

146 min | USA:138 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:Atp | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Cinecittà Studios, Cinecittà, Rome, Lazio, Italy

Company:

Batjac Productions

Trivia:

Michael Douglas' movie debut.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: When first seen, Angie Dickinson and Senta Berger are shown wearing fashions from the 1960s when the film was made, not the 1940s when the film was set.

Quotes:

Vince Talmadge: Hey, don't leave me here! I'm anti-Semitic!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (2006) (V)

CAST A GIANT SHADOW (Melville Shavelson, 1966) **1/2

Earnest, well-mounted but essentially dreary epic about the real-life involvement of an American Jew in the post-war struggle for Israel's independence – thus sharing its theme with EXODUS (1960), and clearly aiming (but failing) for a "Marcus Of Israel" feel!

Kirk Douglas stars as Mickey Marcus – perhaps chosen due to the character's similarities to another historical figure forced by circumstances into leadership, Spartacus, whom Douglas had portrayed in 1960. He's supported by an eclectic cast which includes Angie Dickinson as his neglected(!) wife, Senta Berger as the Israeli girl he falls for, Topol as an ill-tempered Arab sheik, Luther Adler as a local politician, a plethora of reliable British character actors – and even guest appearances by Frank Sinatra (which doesn't amount to much), a glum Yul Brynner as a fellow freedom fighter, and John Wayne as a U.S. General whom Douglas initially falls foul of but the two eventually end up respecting one another (still, seeing Wayne at the liberation of the Dachau concentration camp is about as incongruous as his stint playing the Roman Centurion at Christ's crucifixion in THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD [1965]!).

Despite a sharp script and good individual sequences, the film is compromised by its necessity to be both a spectacle and a message picture (the WWII flashbacks, for instance, are unnecessary and merely render the film overlong); unsurprisingly, it works best during the action highlights (complemented by a typically fine Elmer Bernstein score). Apparently, the events have been partially fictionalized – I wonder whether these embellishments concerned the romantic complications and the Hollywood-style ironic ending. For the record, Shavelson had started out as a scriptwriter (and later director) of Bob Hope and Danny Kaye vehicles; this was his most serious effort – a brave try, but not quite the 'giant' film he clearly intended...